Folding machine



I Feb. 26, 1929.

' 1,703,544 A: R. RIDDERSTROM FOLDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1924 I14 Patented Feb. 26, 1929.

uuirsn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW R. 'RIDDERSTROM, OF NAHAN-T, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO BEACON FOLDING MACHINE COMPANY, OF'LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

FOLDING MACHINE.

Application filed September 12, 1924. I Serial No. 737,310.

The present invention relates to folding machines. I

The invention will be more fully explained in connection with the accompanying drawin which Fig. 1 is a perspective view, with parts broken away, of theforward portion of a machine embodying the present in volition; Fig. 2 is a view of a detail; Fig. 3

"is a similar view, showing the parts in rela-,

than in the other figures and parts being brolien away for clearness. 1

The invention is illustrated in its preferred form as applied to a folding Inachinefor folding the margins of shoe uppers, such as Vamps, quarters andthe like. is provided with a an upper feed point 30 between which a sheet of flexible material like a shoe upper 2,is

adapted to be intermittently gripped, and

by which it is aoa ited to be fed or advanced, step by over a platfornror support 2 1. lllrirlni feed movement, the edge of the shoe u secured. 438 to the upper end of a b1.'a ':et 1,afterwhich it is advanced to and'pasttwo cooperatinf' ini'ves 352 and 353. Theknife 353 is an. ry

but the knife may be ition, at the will of the op- .1 4- reasons i.

61, and connected by a link 35 1 tonzccha nism (not shown) under the controlof the operator, is merc fully explained in a co-- pending application, Serial No. 652,169, filed July 17 1923. Whether the snipped or not, as may be desired, it is then advanced. beyond a retainer 153 that acts to hold the stock against the support during pauses in the feed, but that is raised'during the feeding movement. I performed by the retainer and the retaineroperating mechanism will not be described The machine lower feed block 11 and ages a gage' lgti, that 28 tosnip or slit the margin of the. L will, and to this end, it ispivoted at out? on the upper end of the same bracket margin is '1 Theother functions herein, because fully described in copending applications. Serial Nos. 352,987, filed J annary 21, 1920, which matured on February 7 24-, 1925, into Patent No. 1,527,395, and .107,- 336, filed b'e iitember 1, 1920, and because other retainers and other rotainer-operating mechmay be employed without departing m. the present invention. A' plow 32, the foiding nose of which is preferably situated iii'unediately to the rear of the retainer, I as described in the aforementioned applica- 3 tion, Serial No. 652,169, then acts to initiate a fold-in the margin of the material, and a fold presser +12 subsequently presses the fold againstthe body of the material. The partsare compactly positioned, to enable operation upon s2 ock having very sharp corners. The feed mechanism remains idle while the fold presser is pressing the fold, and the fold presser is ineffective, duringthe feeding of the work. y

The fold presser 12 is fioatingly pivoted at 146 to link 1&8 the other end ofwhich is opcrated from a driving shaft 66, as is more fully described in the above-mentioned Pat- I entNo. 1,527,395.. The exterior surface of the told presser is cylindrical, asshown at 1.56 so as to rock Within a cylindricalbearing 158 provided at the free end of an arm 160 the I other end'of which isv pivoted. at 162. The fold pre support J1- by a compression. spring 166 mounted upon a rod 168 extending through an opening 1% in the arm 160and screw-- is springpressed towards the' threaded into the frame, as shown at 14! By means of the screw threads, the pressureof the spring upon the arm 160 may be adjusted, the ends of the spring being confined v between the; arm and a lrerred head 170 upon- By means of this construction,

er pivotally actuated in ght angles to the plane of feed,

plane at witl 1. a yielding action the fold-presserupon the fold, relieving the strain thereon,'while permitting a positive separation of-the fold resser froin the upper by the link 1 18.

The feedin mechanism, comprising the feed block 41 and, the feed point 30, is also.

drivenfroi'n thedriving shaft 66 byymecha-p.

nisin more fully describedin the above-named Patent No. 1,527,397. The feedblock 11 is shown more particularly in Fig. 4 as rigidly secured to, or integral with,a holder 93 that the rocking" member 30.

is secured, as by a set screw (not shown), to a v rocking or oscillating support 94. The rocking support is pivotally mounted about a rod 96 that is secured to the frame of the machine by a screw 98. The feed point 30 is pivotally mounted at 110 upon the rocking support 94,so as to be rocked therewith and with the lower feed block 41.

An arm member 36 is also pivotally mounted to rock or oscillate about the rod 96. The member 36 is provided with a diagonally disposed cylindrical opening 100 within which is slidingly mounted a diagonally cylindrical block 102 the upper flat face of which is substantially horizontal, as shown at 104. The angle of inclination oi? the o iening 100 is preferably in the neighborhood of thirty degrees. The cylindrical block 102 is adapted to be actuated by an eccentric or crank pin 106 of the driving shaft 60. The eccentric or crank pin is rotatably mounted in the block 102 and extends through an opening 108 off Rotative movement of the shaft 66 will be converted by the eccentric into combined sliding and oscillating or rotative movement of the bloclr 102- and this, in turn, will effect a rocking movement of the rocking member 36 about the rod 96. A compression coiled spring 38, interposed between the rocking support 94 and the rocking member 36, yieldingly connects the rocking support 94 to the rocking member 30 to cause them to rock or oscillate together, as a unit. The coiled spring 38 yieldingly maintains an arm 39 of the rocking support 94 in engagement with an adjustable portion 40 of the rocking member 36. The adjustable portion 40 of the rocking member 36 isshown as a set screw.

The feed point 30 is normally yieldingly maintained in contact with the feed block 41 by a compression coil spring 112 coiled about 'a threaded'rod 114 extending through an opening 116 in the feed-point arm 118 and secured at 43 to the rocking support 94. By means oi the threads upon the rod 114, the pressure of the spring 112 upon the reed point may be adjusted, the ends of'the spring being confined between the feed-point arm 118 and a knurled nut 124 that is threaded upon the rod 114. The feed-point arm 113 is provided with an adjustable screw 120. The upper .i'ace 104 of the block 102 is adapted to engage the screw 120, thereby to raise the feed point, in opposition to the pressure of the spring 112. An additional adjustable member 123 is provided to prevent the feed point becoming lowered into contact with the feed block when the machine is running idly, thereby preventing the feed point pounding uselessly against the feed block when no stock is interposed.

As the driving shaft 66 is rotated, the rocking support 94 is rocked from right to left and fromleft to right, as viewed in Pi imparting an oscillating movement to lower feed block 41 and the upper feed point 30 which are carried thereby. During the lei't-to-right movement, the feed point 30 will be separated from the feed block 41 by the action of the cylindrical block 102, which then occupies its upper positions. During the right-to-lei t movement, the block'102 will lie in the lower portions of the cylindrical open- 100, and the feed point will be springpressed into engagement with the feed block, which will thus advance to the fold presser the upper clamped therebetween.

Curved portions of the work should not be fed so rapidly as straight portions.- To vary the lengths the feed steps, so as to feed the work by greater or by shorter feed strokes, at will, the rocking support 94 be adjusted angularly closer to, or farther from, the rocl ing member 36. This is accomplished, as is more fully illustrated and explained in the application Serial No. 652,169 aforesaid, by

pressing upward upon an arm 45 that proj ects out from the arm 39 of the rocking support 94, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. The free end of the arm 45 is adapted tobe engaged by the free end of an arm 122 that is pivoted to the frame of the machine at 143. Pivot-almovement of the arm 122 may be etlected by a vertically disposed arm 145 the upperend of which is pivoted to the arm 122 2113147. The lower portion of thearm 145 is adapted to be engaged by actuating a cam member 46 that is secured to one end of a rock shaft 170 that extends transversely across the machine,

the arm 30 by a leaf spring 132 that is tired to the arm 36 in any desired manner, illustrated at 140. When the a'n 36 is rocked. downward, as viewed in Figs. 5 and 7, the projection 37 will engage the lever 34' and cause the plow 32 to swing open about its'pivotalpoint 130, in the direction of the curved arrow, Fig. 5. When the arm 36 is rocked in the opposite direction, the spring 132 will cause the plow to pivot in the opposite direction. The plow is thus oscillated once correspondng to each rocking movement of the rocking arm Before the machine is started, it is desir-' able to raisethe feed point from the feed block to permit the insertion of the upper therebetween. The screw 1230i the'ieed point is adapted to rest upon the rocking support 94, as before described, but the feed point is adapted to be raised, in opposition to the force of the spring 112, by a rod 300 that is vertically disposed in an opening 302 of the rocking support 9-1. The rod 800 rests upon the head of a rod 30a that is slid-ably mounted in a vertical opening 306 provided trans versel throu h the rod 96. The rod 304: is.

adapted to be raised by mechanism under the control of the operator, as is more Iully described in the above-named applications,

diately prior pauses in the feed. Each folded portion is pres ed while the next SL1CC6C- ing portion is being vfolded. The teed elements may feed by shorter or longer feed steps, as desired.

It the work is sharply convex, as illustrated l1 dotted lines in Fig. 5, 1t has a tendency to be fed out of range of operation of the fold Provision is therefore made, ac

presser. cording to the present invention, for moving the fold presser at right angles to the line of feed, during the operation of the machine, so as to maintain an active cooperative relation between-the fold presser and the work. According to the specific embodiment of the invention that is herein illustrated and described, this result is etiected by moving the arm 160 bodily at right angles to the line of feed. The pivot 162 therefore mounted upon a n arm 177. The arm 177 is pivotally mounted to t frame ot' the machine at 179,

so as to pivot in a plane at right angles to the line of feed. A pivotal movement of the arm .177 in one direction Wlll efl'ect a correspond ing movement of the arm 160; anda reverse movement of the arm 177 will result in acorrespondin reverse movement ofthe arm 160. The first-named movement of the arm 177 may be e'li ected by a screw 181 that is ad1ustably threaded in aprojecting portion 183 ofthe arm 17'? and that engages a portion 185 of the machine frame. The reverse movement may be effected by a spring 187 one end of which is secured to the projecting portion 183 at 189 and the other to a stationary part of the frame of the machine at 191. The movement ofthe arm 160will, of course, have some result upon the operating effect of the link 148 upon the fold presser 42. This result will be negligible, however, for two reasons: first, the amount of movement of the arm 160 is relatively small; and secondly, be-

by the feed point 30 and the 'tion, means for feeding ma initiating a told in the margin of the matecause the fold presser des'cendswith a rolling action.

Many details of the illust-rat've'machinev I have not been illustrated herein, and many il- 7 lustrated parts have not beendescribed, be-

cause unnecessary to an understanding of the present invention, and because full particulars may be obtained in the-aforesaid applications. The more, though fully explained, are by-no means restricted to the exact embodiments thereof that are illustrated and described herein. Modifications and changes will readily occur to persons skilled in the art, and all such are considered to fall within the scope of the in-- vention, as defined in the appended claims.

\Vhat is claimed is:

1. A folding machine having,in combination, means for feeding material, means for lolding the material, a fold presseri'or pressmg the told, amember pivoted to the fold pre means for adjusting the fold presser about the pivotal point in a direction at an angle to the line of feed. I

2. A folding machine having, in combination, means tor feeding material step by step, a plow for initiating a fold in the margin of the material, means for actuating the plow to initiate the fold in successive portions of the margin step by step, fold presser, a

member pivoted to the foldpresser about a pivotal point, means for actuating the mem-' her to actuate the fold presserintoand out of contact with the fold to press the fold;

step by step, and means for adjusting the fold presser about thepivotal point in a direction at right angles to the line of feed.

folding machine having, in combination, means for feeding material, means for folding the material, a rolling told presser elements of novelty, furtheror about a pivotal point, means for actu- I atmg the member to actuate the fold presser into and out of contact Vtlllll the fold, and

for pressing the fold, means for rolling the.v I

told presse'r, and n ing the fold presser in a direction at'right angles to the line oflfeed. I o 7 4. A folding machine having, in combinarial, a plow, for

and means for adjusting the fold presser about its point of connection with the' link in a direction at right angles to the line of feed.

s for piv'otally adjust- 5. A folding machine having, in c0mbination, a support, means for feeding material over the support, a retainer for holdingfthe material against the support, means for told: ing the material, a fold pr'esseri forpressing the fold, means for actuating the fold presser into and out of contactjwith the fold, and

means for pivotally adjusting the foldpresser in a direction at right angles to the line of feed.

6. A folding machine having, in combina tion, means for feeding material, means for folding the material, a fold presser for pressing the fold, an arm upon which the fold presser is mounted as to move with respect to the arm, means connected with the fold presser for actuating the fold presser with respect to the arm into and out of contact with the fold, and means for adjusting the arm in a direction at an angle to the line of feed.

7. A folding machine havii'ig, in combination, means for feeding material, means for folding the material, a fold presser for pressing the fold, an arm to which the fold presser is pivoted about a pivotal point,- means for pivotal ly' actuating the fold presser upon the arm about the pivotal. point into and out of contact with the fold, and means for adjusting the arm in a direction at an angle to the line of feed.

8. A folding machine having, in combination, means for feeding material, a plow for initiating a fold in the margin of the material, a fold pre'sser for pressing the fold initiated by the plow, means for pivotally actuating the fold presser in a plane at right angles to the line of feed into and out of contact with the fold, and means for pivotally adjusting the fold presser about its point of pivotal actuation inthe said plane in a direction at right angles to the line of feed.

9. A folding machine havlng,in combination, a support, means for feeding material over the support, a retainer for holding the material against the support, a plow for initition, a movable plow for folding the margin Y of material, a pivotally mounted support, a

feed block rigidly secured to the support, a

feed point pivoted to the support, an arm pivotally mounted about the pivotal. axis of the support having a diag onally disposed cylindrical opening, a diagonally cylindrical block slidingly i'nounted-in the opening, an eccentric for actuating the block to cause the oscillation of the arm, means yieldingly connecting the arm and the support, thefeed block and the feed point being adapted to feed the material step by step to the plow during the forward oscillation of the arm and the support, the block being adapted to separate the feed point from the feed block during the return oscillations of the arm and the support, means for adjustably limiting the de 'ree of oscillation of the support'to adjustably limit the extent of feeding action of the feeding means, a fold presser, and means for adjusting the fold presser in a direction at an angle to the line of feed.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 6th day of August,'1924;.

ANDREW' R. BIDDERS/PROM. 

